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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Jun 4.
Published in final edited form as: Annu Rev Biomed Eng. 2019 Mar 27;21:443–468. doi: 10.1146/annurev-bioeng-060418-052139

Figure 3.

Figure 3

Nuclear mechanics guide stem cell fate and mechanical memory. (a) Stem cells may undergo mechanically induced differentiation in response to matrix mechanical properties, surface structure, and geometry. Nuclear mechanotransduction in response to matrix sensing alters the transcriptional program to ultimately guide downstream lineage commitment and cellular mechanical properties. (b) Substrate stiffness may enable stem cells to exhibit mechanical memory, in which a stiff phenotype is remembered upon transfer to culture on a soft substrate, via nuclear YAP retention and chromatin condensation.